February 23, 2011

  • Aquileia and Grado etc

    Aquileia (in Friuli-Venezia Giulia), one of the largest and wealthiest cities of the Early Roman Empire (180/181 BC), was destroyed by Attila in the mid-5th century. Most of it still lies unexcavated beneath the fields, and as such it constitutes the greatest archaeological reserve of its kind. The patriarchal basilica, an outstanding building with an exceptional mosaic pavement, played a key role in the evangelization of a large region of central Europe.



    Romulus and Remus statue under the bell tower

    I've had the past two Wednesdays completely free, since both group courses I previously had that day have now finished, and new ones have not yet begun... bliss!
    Last week the weather was fairly miserable, so I had a lovely relaxing day at home. Today the forecast was for sun sun sun, so I decided to go somewhere! Top destination on my list was the city described above - Aquileia. I particularly wanted to see the mosaics in the main Basilica. According to my rough guide, this mosaic carpet is the earliest surviving remnant of any Christian building, and it was definitely worth the visit. So nice to finally be able to go somewhere! 

    Aquileia is approximately 45km from Udine, and 10km from the sea at Grado (where I went during the afternoon). So, at 9am I caught the bus, having had a lovely breakfast in my new-favourite cafe which is near the bus station. An hour later, I was within sight of the Basilica. The town itself is tiny, so everything is an easy walk, and easy to find because it's all right by the main road! 


    First stop: the Basilica. The mosaics depict various episodes inspired by biblical stories, e.g. Jonah and the Whale, as well as Roman imagery. You can pick up a leaflet which guides you along the platform, pointing out the most interesting things. Below you can see some of the fishing scenes, and a fight between a tortoise and a cock. 

     

    The Basilica also has two crypts. One is a small one at the front - the Cripta degli Affreschi, which is entirely covered with frescoes. Some are badly damaged and are currently being restored, but a beautiful impression overall. 

    The second crypt is much larger, running under a large part of the basilica and the bell tower. This has many more mosaics, some of which were fascinating, for example a depiction of a lobster up a tree.  

    Throughout the town, there are many other Roman remains and excavations. The Forum, Roman houses, Roman roads, and most interesting of all to visit, the Roman Fluvial Port, which is the most extensive site of all. 
    Then the Archaelogical Museum houses other finds from the area, including many many examples of engraved jewels (can't remember their actual name). I'm sure I must have seen such things in one of the many such museums I have been to on previous occasions, but I can't remember ever seeing a whole room dedicated to them and being quite so fascinated by them. Also, some absolutely wonderful coloured glass... so, I enjoyed that. 
    I also visited the Paleo-Christian museum which was a bit further out of town. More mosaics to be seen there....  

    Once I had got my fill of mosaics, I proceeded back to the bus stop and caught the bus down to the coast at Grado. The approach is along a thin road which crosses the whole lagoon...rather like approaching Venice. It is, effectively, an island.
    Totally off-season of course, but the sun was shining and, even though it was bitterly cold, I had a lovely time walking along the sea front, with the wind blowing all the sand up off the beach into my face etc etc! (Had to have a nice long hot bath once home to recover from having been out walking in 3 degrees temperature all day!). 


    Anyway, Grado is lovely because it also has a beautiful little historic centre. It's made up of little alleys and squares just like Venice and I enjoyed visiting the main sites there too.
      

    All in all, a lovely day out! Back to work tomorrow..! No Wednesday off next week unfortunately, although I'm not starting until 6pm on Monday! New student on Tuesday though... it's all change! Lots of one-to-one students have finished recently, as well as all the groups. Only got 5 groups at the moment (3 of which are teens...).